The final conversation between pilots of a Russian plane that crashed this morning has revealed their concerns over the weather.

A seven-minute recording, allegedly taken from air traffic control tapes, appeared to show the pilots chatting normally to officials as they asked if the weather was better as they made their approach to Rostov-on-Don airport.

Four children were among the 62 people killed when flydubai Flight FZ981 plummeted to the ground at around 4:00 a.m. Moscow time.

The pilots are asked repeatedly about their visibility and can be heard saying it is around 5km.

The aircraft was piloted by Cypriot Aristos Sokratous and co-pilot Spaniard Alejandro Álava Cruz.

Aristos Sokratous, captain of the doomed jet was on his final flight for flydubai and was about to move to Ireland with his pregnant wife.

First officer Alejandro Alava, 37, from Spain who was in charge of radio communication.

In a conversation that switches between English and Russian, they can be heard asking if there are any changes in conditions and receive regular updates from the ground.

Although they do not seem to panic at any point, their voices can be heard becoming more agitated as the plane descends to an altitude of around 2,000ft.

The flight was predominantly carrying Russian passengers, although eight Ukrainians, two Indians and one person from Uzbekistan were also on board.

It went up in flames after its tail hit the runway and disintegrated. Pilot error or a technological failure were thought to be the two other main causes being investigated.

Nicos Anastasiade, president of Cyprus, paid tribute to 35-year-old Mr Sokratous, who appears to have got married just last August.

He said: "Especially to those close to Aristos Sokratous, the President of the Republic expresses his deepest condolences, and his support towards them."

flydubai would not release any other information about the pilot on Saturday afternoon but his Facebook page suggested he trained at Oxford Aviation Academy in Kidlington, Oxfordshire and liked rock music.

A statement from the airline said: "We are currently contacting relatives of the passengers and crew who were on board and we are offering any help we can to those affected."

Officials have been forced to bring in dogs to search for remains at the flydubai crash site after the plane was obliterated as it tried to land in 'hurricane-force winds'.

The plane was carrying 55 passengers and seven crew members from Dubai when it crashed as it attempted to land for a second time in bad weather conditions.

Vasily Golubev, the governor of the Rostov region, this afternoon revealed that the plane crashed around 800ft short of the runway.

He added: "By all appearances, the cause of the air crash was the strongly gusting wind, approaching a hurricane level."

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